Parker tied the game at 21-21 early in the second half on Jovanni Sanchez's 5-yard touchdown run, but La Follette scored the last 21 points of the game to pull away.

Despite 209 yards rushing from tailback Dai-Von Vance-Jenkins, the Vikings could not overcome the rash of false starts that killed two critical drives.

“I guess we didn't get our pre-game jitters out of us,” Parker coach Eric Skrzypchak said. “We just have to clean it up. There's no excuse for it.

“But it is game one, and we've got plenty of room to grow.”

Big plays proved to be the difference early. The Lancers took an early 14-0 lead on a 53-yard interception return by Paul Looper and an 82-yard punt return by Rodney Poe. Parker had the Lancers pinned down to the 6-yard line on Mitch Treinen's punt, but an illegal motion penalty on the play nullified the kick. Poe then took the ensuing punt and raced virtually untouched for an 82-yard score.

Parker got on the board at 2:19 of the first on Vance-Jenkins' 19-yard scamper off a perfectly executed counter play. The senior speedster had 172 yards at half, most of which came on counter plays, but La Follette made adjustments at the half and limited him to only 37 yards rushing the second half.

The Vikings trailed by seven at half after Vance-Jenkins went 56 yards for a score with 4:39 left in the second quarter.

Parker took the second-half kickoff and scored quickly. Sanchez plowed in from five yards out to cut the lead to one and Billy Phalin's point-after kick at 9:35 of the third tied the game.

The Lancers dominated from there. Cahleel Copus, who finished with 102 yards rushing, scored twice in the next six minutes as La Follette opened up a 35-21 lead.

Parker had only 61 yards of offense in the second half, including zero passing yards.

“We have to balance it up offensively and clean up the mistakes,” Skrzypchak said. “We did some good things, and we'll keep battling. There's a lot of season left.”